Riesterer v. Crown Life Ins. Co.
| Decision Date | 06 July 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 79-1645,79-1645 |
| Parties | J. A. RIESTERER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CROWN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
C. F. Boyle, Jr., Vandeveer, Garzia, Tonkin, Kerr & Heaphy, Detroit, Mich., for plaintiff-appellant.
James A. Thorpe, Denenberg, Tuffley & Thorpe, Ileen Gordon, Susan Tukel, Southfield, Mich., for defendant-appellee.
Before WEICK and MERRITT, Circuit Judges, and CECIL, Senior Circuit Judge.
In this Michigan diversity case, plaintiff, J. A. Riesterer, appeals a judgment entered on a directed verdict against her. She had sued defendant, Crown Life Insurance Co., to recover $25,000 she claimed was due her through an accidental death provision of an insurance policy. The district court concluded that there was insufficient evidence that the death had been accidental. Riesterer also appeals several evidentiary rulings. We affirm the judgment of the district court.
Riesterer's decedent, a fireman, died at the age of 52 of a myocardial infarction a heart attack suffered while inside a burning building. He was alone at the time the attack occurred. He had entered the building, which witnesses testified was very hot and smoky, carrying a fire hose with a co-worker. The co-worker left him, and when he returned plaintiff's decedent was lying on the floor. An oxygen mask worn by the decedent showed no sign of malfunction, and there was no indication of any external unusual event having occurred. He died without regaining consciousness. The death certificate, prepared by Dr. Harold McNeil, described the cause as "myocardial infarction ... over exertion in the line of duty while fighting a fire" (App. 258). In a deposition read at trial, the doctor of osteopathy who prepared the certificate testified that (App. 212). No evidence other than that of Dr. McNeil, who performed no autopsy and undertook no independent investigation of the precise cause of death, was offered by Riesterer. She argues that that evidence creates a factual issue sufficient to send the case to the jury.
Plaintiff's decedent was covered by a group insurance policy issued by Crown Life that provided for $25,000 ordinary death benefits and double indemnity for accidental death. The policy provides, in pertinent part,
If an employee while insured for this benefit sustains any accidental bodily injury which, independent of all other causes, is the direct cause of any loss ..., Crown Life will pay (an additional $25,000)....
No amount shall be payable ... for any loss which is directly contributed to by, or is caused directly or indirectly by ... illness or disease of any kind....
The central issue on appeal is whether a heart attack suffered under the...
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